London, 17/07/2009
Green Budget Europe Annual Conference
17th July, London
Environmental Policy in Times of Financial Crisis
King´s College, London
Background
The main goal of the Green Budget Europe annual conference was to demonstrate to decision makers and the interested public in the EU that economic instruments in environmental policy can contribute to the solution of both environmental and economic problems. Energy and resource taxation, emission trading and the removal of environmentally harmful subsidies create incentives to increase the efficiency and sustainability of economic activity in Europe, while improving the quality of our (natural and man-made) environment and ecosystems. Environmental Fiscal Reform could for example be used to raise revenues for stabilising measures, or to fund the repayment of budget deficits.
The conference evaluated the EU environmental and fiscal policy in this context, looking in detail at the EU Budget Review, the Emission Trading Scheme and the Energy Tax Directive, and the sustainability of EU transport policy. A further focus of all elements of the conference will be ways to specifically employ MBI in the current fiscal climate. Green Budget Europe will use conference discussions to sharpen its position and will take the conclusions of the conference on board in its further work of high-level discourse on the European level.
The programme of the Conference is available here.
Just two days before the conference, on July 15th and 16th, was the final conference of the petrE project, co-ordinated by Professor Paul Ekins, entitled "Environmental Tax Reform in Europe - the Key to a Resource-Efficient, Low-Carbon, Competitive Economy" . More information to this conference is available directly on the project website here.
09:30 Introduction – EFR and the fiscal crisis
Chair: Kai Schlegelmilch (Vice President, Green
Budget Europe)
09:30 Environmental Fiscal Reform as significant
part of the solution to the financial crisis
Anselm Görres (President, Green Budget Germany) Download
10:00 A Sustainable New Deal: Environmental Policy and the Fiscal Crisis
Tim Jackson (Economics Commissioner, Sustainable Development Commission)
11.15 EFR and the EU – Ways of realising change in Europe
Chair: Tea Nõmmann (Centre Director, SEI Tallinn)
11:15 What is politically feasible? What possibilities are there in the EU to implement EFR?
Alexander Wiedow (European Commission, DG-TAXUD) Download
11:45 Fiscal reform in Europe: Fields of action and political windows of opportunity
Dr. Franz Fischler (President of the Eco-Social Forum
Europe) Download
13:45 Workshop I: ETR and ETS in the context of the EU climate and energy policy
Chair: Ralf Martin (LSE)
Comments invited from:
• Yannis Paleokrassas (former EU Environment
Commissioner, former Finance Minister GRE) Download
• David Gee (EEA)
• Manfred Rosenstock (European Commission,
DG-Environment) Download
13:45 Workshop II: Sustainability and transport in the EU
Chair: David Baldock, (Director, IEEP)
Comments invited from:
• Miroslav Hájek (Director of the department of
economic instruments, MoE CZ, Prague) Download
• András Lukács (Clean Air Action Group Hungary) Download
• Andrea Molocchi (Friends of the Earth Italy /
ISAT research institute Italy)
13:45 Workshop III: The EU budget review – greening the budget?
Chair: Chris Littlecott (Green Alliance)
Comments invited from:
• John Hontelez (Secretary General, EEB) Download
• Keti Medarova-Bergstrom (CEE Bankwatch
Network / Friends of the Earth Europe) Download
• tbc
13:45 Workshop IV: Windows of opportunity for the implementation of EFR in times of fiscal crisis
Chair: Aldo Ravazzi (Italian Ministry for Environment,
Land & Sea)
Comments invited from:
• Danny Stevens (Policy Director, Environmental
Industries Commission) Download
• Marc Pallemaerts (Senior Fellow, IEEP)
• Dr. Paul Metz (e5, European Business Council
for Sustainable Energy) Download
15:30-17:00
Environmental policy in times of financial crisis: EFR as a tool to help our economies out of the recession
(Panel discussion)
Chair: Professor Stewart Elgie, (Faculty of Law,
University of Ottawa)
Including Reports from the workshops:
"ETR and ETS in the context of the EU climate and
energy policy ", Mark Schofield (Sustainability and
climate change tax leader, PwC)
“Sustainability and the Transport Sector”, Miroslav
Hájek (Director of the department of economic instruments,
MoE CZ)
“The EU budget review - greening the budget”,
John Hontelez (Secretary General, EEB) Download
“Windows of opportunity for the implementation of
EFR in times of fiscal crisis”, Aldo Ravazzi (Italian
Ministry for Environment, Land & Sea)
Brief comments from:
Professor Paul Ekins (King’s College London)
Robin Miege (European Commission, DGEnvironment)
Introduction: EFR and the fiscal crisis
l. to r.: Tim Jackson (Economics Commissioner, Sustainable Development Commission),Kai Schlegelmilch (Vice President, Green Budget Europe), Anselm Görres (President, Green Budget Germany)
EFR and the fiscal crisis, Discussion/questions
Workshop III: The EU budget review – greening the budget?
Comments invited from: John Hontelez (Secretary General, EEB), Chris Littlecott (Green Alliance), Keti Medarova-Bergstrom (CEE Bankwatch Network / Friends of the Earth Europe)
Environmental policy in times of financial crisis: EFR as a tool to help our
economies out of the recession, Including Reports from the workshops:
Mark Schofield (PricewaterhouseCoopers UK), Kai Schlegelmilch (Vice President, Green Budget Europe), John Hontelez (Secretary General, EEB), Helen Lückge (Research Associate, INFRAS)
